From NASA's Perseverance and China's Tianwen-1 to the UAE's Hope orbiter, 2021 is proving to be an exciting year for missions to Mars. Emma Keeling explores the scientific and engineering innovations at the heart of each of these missions. 

She talks to leading scientists and engineers from the European Space Agency, China National Space Administration and China Mars Society about what the teams are hoping to learn on the "Red Planet". She also explores what their progress means for the future of manned trips to the planet, as well as possible settlement hopes.